Atlantis
by mockinjay14
Summary: Peeta Mellark has spent his whole life obsessing over the lost City of Atlantis. When the opportunity to find this mysterious empire arises, he simply can't refuse the offer. But what will he find when he reaches the ancient city? Or more importantly- what will find him? Based off of Atlantis: The Lost Empire. I don't own The Hunger Games, Atlantis, or any characters.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

" _...in a single day and night of misfortune, the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea." - Plato, 360 B.C._

My name is Katniss Everdeen, I am eighty eight hundred years old. I am Queen of Atlantis, a lost empire hidden from the rest of the world. You might ask yourself how it could be possible for me to be alive today, how it's possible for anyone in Atlantis to be alive... Our culture is preserved, thanks to an ancient secret. A secret that has been kept from my people for many years. My father thought it was for the best. He only ever wanted to protect me. I was the only thing he cared about after the day everything changed.

I was a young girl that fateful day. The day started out uneventful. Nobody could have guessed that something that would completely change our way of life forever would happen that day. But it did. A beam of light came down from the heavens, and a gigantic wave emerged from the calm waters, the wave that everyone thought would destroy us. At the time the news reached the city, my parents- the King and Queen- had accompanied me on a day trip to visit the common folk. They were humble rulers who loved the company of their people, and wished for me to grow up without feeling superior to them. We were donating some of our riches when the bells started ringing and people ran to the shelters. My mother grabbed my hand and ran. At some point I dropped my favorite doll. She had beautiful black hair and olive skin. I stopped to retrieve the doll but my mother pulled me along. "There's no time,"

That was when the second beam of light shined down, this time onto my mother. I remember watching her slowly ascend into the sky, toward a bright light in the sky. She gripped onto a bracelet I had been wearing at the time, and it slipped off of my small wrist. "Mother!" I screamed. "Mother!"

That's when my father rushed to my side, pulling me into his arms. "Close your eyes," He told me as a shield of energy formed around the city. "Look away."

That was the day Atlantis sunk into the waters. That was the last day I saw the sun. That was the day everything changed.

 **This summer I watched Atlantis: The Lost Empire for the first time, and I knew just by watching the first ten minutes I had to make this a Hunger Games fanfiction. Atlantis has become my favorite Disney movie, I highly recommend it. You guys have no idea how many times I've watched it since then and I still adore it. I will use a lot of direct quotes from the movie, and I hope you enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Washington DC 1914

"Good afternoon gentlemen," I say in a professional voice. "First of all, I'd like to thank you for taking the time today to consider my proposal. Now, thousands of years ago, there was an advanced civilization, but according to Plato, it was struck by an event that caused it to sink into the ocean. My research has shown that Atlantis had electricity, and technology- more advanced than what we have today. Many historians believe that Atlantis was charged by some kind of a power source. Now, here's what I'm proposing; we find Atlantis, find that power source, and bring it back here." I move across the room, pick up a book, and gesture to it. "Now, a page from this text describes a book called the Shepherd's Journal, a first hand account of Atlantis and it's whereabouts."

I push my glasses up the bridge of my nose. "Historians believe the journal is in Ireland, but compared to the text on this Viking shield," I pant as I pull the shield up to my chest. "I believe they made a mistake, and the journal is- not in Ireland, but in Iceland. Gentlemen, I'll take your questions now." I finish right before the phone rings. "Excuse me for one second," I say to my fake audience, and move to the phone. I finally worked out all the kinks in my presentation! Right in time too, as I'm presenting in thirty minutes. As I move to the door, I stop to look at a picture from when I was a child, of me sitting on my grandpa's lap.

I got my Atlantis obsession from him. He would tell me about his theories, and how one day he would take me on the expedition to find it. But he died several years ago. I took his job working in the boiler room of the museum in the hopes that I would meet someone who would take me seriously on my Atlantis theories, but so far, that has not been the case. Nobody will fund my expedition, they believe Atlantis is just a myth.

Just as I'm about to leave for my presentation, a messenger arrives with a letter. " _Mr. Mellark,_ " I read aloud. " _Your meeting has been moved from 4:30PM to 3:30PM..._ " I look at the clock, it's now four. "I'm late!" I grab my case as another messenger hands me a second letter. " _Mr. Mellark, due to your failure to attend your meeting, the board has decided to reject your proposal!_ " No, no, no, no, no! I think. This can't be happening.

I run up the stairs to the lobby of the museum, and see the board members hurrying toward the door, when they see me, they start running. They delivered the message late so I would miss my meeting! "Wait!" I shout as I chase after them. I follow one of them to their car. "Sir, if you'd just give me a chance, I can prove-"

"We fund scientific expeditions based on fact, not legends and folklore." he says. "Besides, we need you at the museum."

"Sir," I say. "I didn't want it to come to this but if you reject my proposal, I'm afraid I- I'm going to have to resign from my job."

"Peeta," he says in a frustrated tone. "You have a lot of potential, don't flush your career down the toilet like your grandfather." With that he slams his car door and speeds off, the tires splashing rainwater at me. I have a lot of potential? Working in the boiler room is not how I want to spend the rest of my life. Frustrated, I sit down on the curb and rest my head in my hands. How am I going to get to Atlantis now?

 **Thank you guys for reading this story so far. The beginning chapters are going to be short, but they will get longer. I'll be posting a chapter every Monday, except for March 14th because that's when I have Spring Break and I won't be in town. I'm glade you guys like this story, it's not my most original story but whenever I watch TV my brain translates everyone into Hunger Games characters. I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed and followed this story so far. Tell me what you guys think about this chapter in the reviews.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

With a frustrated sigh, I push open my apartment door. "Fluffy, I'm home." I call to my cat- who usually greets me at the door. "Fluffy?" I question when she doesn't come to me. Pulling my coat off and hanging it up, I look around the room, and find the silhouette of a person. "Hello?" The figure turns around slowly, revealing that they are a woman. "Who are you? How did you get in?"

"I came down the chimney. Ho, ho, ho." She says slowly. "The names Cashmere, I'm acting on behalf of my employer, who has a most intriguing proposition for you. Are you interested?"

"Your... your employer? Who is your employer?" I ask.

About an hour later, I'm walking through her employer's house, getting ready to meet him. "Step lively, Mister Abernathy doesn't like to be kept waiting." Cashmere adjusts my tie. "You'll address him as Mister Abernathy or sir. You will stand unless asked to be seated. And keep your sentences short and to the point. Are we clear?" I take a gulp of air, unsure about what I'm even doing here. "And don't worry." She says. "He doesn't bite... often."

When I walk in I find an old man sitting down with his hands folded. "Peeta Mellark, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." he says. "I'm Haymitch Abernathy."

I shake his hand and look around the room, spotting a picture of him standing next to my grandpa. "You... You knew my grandfather?" I question.

"Bannock Mellark?" he asks. "Yeah, we were close friends... He spoke of you often."

"Funny," I say. "He never mentioned you,"

"Oh, that's 'cause he knew I liked my privacy." He chuckles. "He wanted me to give you this when I thought the time was right." He hands me a package.

I carefully open the box and find a book. Squinting I pull it out of the box, my eyes widening when I realize what this is. "It's the Shepherd's Journal!" I exclaim. "This journal is the key to finding the lost continent of Atlantis!"

"Atlantis!" He laughs. "I wasn't born yesterday, boy."

I ignore him and scan the pages. "Look at this! Coordinates, clues, it's all right here."

"It all looks like gibberish to me," He waves his hand.

"That's because it's been written in a dialect that no longer exists."

"So it's useless."

"Not useless, just difficult." I smile. "I spent my whole life studying dead languages, it's not gibberish to me."

"It's probably a fake."

I look up at him. "Mister Abernathy, my grandfather would have known if this was a fake. I would know. I would stake everything I own that this is the genuine Shepherd's Journal." I open the book, and look at the writing.

"Fine, fine. Now that you have the journal, what are you going to do with it?" He questions.

I scratch my head. "Get funding." I finally say. "I'll make the museum believe me."

"Like you did today?"

"Yes... I mean no..." I say. "Wait how did you know that-"

"Forget about that."

"I'll... I'll make them see."

"They'll never believe you."

"Then forget about them. I'm going to find Atlantis. Even if I have to do it on my own. Even if I have to rent a rowboat and-"

"Now that's what I like to hear," He grins and pushes a button and model of a submarine rises up from the desk. "But forget the rowboat, boy. We're going to travel in style"

"Mister Abernathy," I say. "I don't think I understand."

"For years your grandfather bent my ear with stories about that old book. So one day I had had it with his stories and made a bet with him. I said, 'If you ever find that journal, not only will I fund the expedition, but I'll kiss you full on the mouth.'" He chuckles. "Imagine my embarrassment when he found it." He frowns. "I know he's gone, God rest his soul, but Haymitch Abernathy always keeps his word... Your grandfather was a great man, you probably don't realize how great he was. Those buffoons at the museum dragged him down, made a laughing stock of him... He died a broken man. If I could bring back one shred of proof that would be enough for me." He locks eyes with me again. "So what are we sitting around for, we have work to do."

"Okay." I say. "But in order to do what you're proposing, you're going to need a crew."

"Taken care of."

I think about what else he would need. "You're gonna need engineers, and geologists."

"I've got them all." Mister Abernathy says. "The best of the best." He pulls out a folder holding several different portraits. He holds up one picture. "Beetee Latier, geology and excavation. The man has a nose for dirt." He grabs another one. "Gale Hawthorne, demolitions. I busted him out of prison." He picks up one last picture, this one of a girl who looks around my age. "Johanna Mason. Don't let her age fool you, she knows more about engines than you and I will even know." He pulls out more pictures. "They're the same crew who brought back the journal."

"Where was it?" I ask, curious about whether or not my theory was correct.

"Oh, just off of the coast of Iceland."

"Iceland, I knew it!"

"All we need now is an expert in gibberish." Mister Abernathy says. "So it's decision time. You can build on the foundation your grandfather left you, or you can go back to your boiler room."

Is this even a question? I've obsessed over Atlantis my whole life. I'm not going to turn down what could be my only opportunity to go. "I'll... I'll do it."

"Great." He folds his hands again. "Your grandfather had a saying. 'Our lives are remembered by the gifts we leave our children'. This journal is his gift to you."

"I won't let you down." I say. "Either of you."

 **Thank you guys for reading this story! Next chapter, we meet the rest of the crew, those of you who have seen Atlantis: The Lost Empire, who do you think will be in the crew. Have a good day, and tell me what you thought of the chapter in the reviews!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Just a few days later, we board a life size version of Mister Abernathy's submarine model. Today I need to meet up with the crew and tell them about what to expect. As I walk to my room, I bump into a man with dark hair and gray eyes, he looks like man from one of the pictures Mister Abernathy showed me when I first met with him. I think his name was Gale. "Oh, I'm sorry... I'm Peeta."

"Nice to meet you," He shrugs. "I'm Gale."

I look down at the crate he's carrying. "What you got there?"

"Um... Gunpowder, nitroglycerin, notepads, fuses, wicks, glue... and paperclips, you know, regular office stuff."

"Oh," I wring my hands together. "Well, I've got to go."

"See ya," He says then walks off, I watch as he disappears down the hall.

When I get to my room, I immediately plop down on my bed. They assigned me two roommates, who I've yet to meet. Sighing I pull the Shepherd's Journal out and read more of it. I get so absorbed in my reading that I don't notice the door opening. Not until I'm shoved off the bed by a short man with glasses, I recognize him as the man from another photograph Mister Abernathy showed me. But I can't remember his name. "What are you doing?" He shrieks, pulling the covers off the bed, exposing several piles of dirt. "France and England must never merge!" He pulls out a small broom and carefully dusts them back into their respective piles.

"Oh," I say. "I'm sorry... I'm Peeta."

He glares at me for a brief moment then smiles. "I'm Beetee." He shakes my hand. "You'll have to be more careful."

"Sorry again, I-" I'm cut off when the door opens again, and a tall man walks in.

"Oh, I see you've met Beetee." He says in a happy voice. "I'm Doctor Aurulies."

"Peeta,"

"Great." He nods. "Say ahh."

"Ahhh?" I question, and he shines a light down my throat.

We get to know each other a little, and then it's time to give me presentation. I meet up with everyone, Gale, Beetee, Doctor Aurulies, and Cashmere are there among two others, a tall, well built man, probably in his early forties, named Brutus, and the girl in the photograph Mister Abernathy showed me, Johanna Mason.

"OK everybody, I want you to give Mr. Mellark your undivided attention," Says Brutus as he sits down.

"Okay," I say. "Um, can everyone hear me?" I wait for a response but move on when I don't get one. "Uh... Atlantis is said to be guarded by a sea monster- the Leviathan- a creature so frightening that sailors were said to be driven mad at the mere sight of it." I pull out a picture and show it to the group, who immediately start laughing, I look down and realize it's a picture of me from my vacation to the ocean.

"Geez," Says Johanna. "I used to take lunch money from guys like this."

Embarrassed, I clear my throat. "Wrong photo, sorry." I pull out a drawing of the Leviathan and show it to them. "It's a mythical sea serpent, described in the book of Job. The Bible says 'Out of his mouth go burning lights... sparks of fire shoot out'."

"Well, it looks like a lobster to me," Johanna says with a shrug. "Let's get to the important stuff, like how do we actually get to Atlantis."

"Well, the journal says that the path to Atlantis leads us through a tunnel at the bottom of the ocean. And we'll come up a cave into an air pocket, where we'll find the remains of an ancient highway that will lead us to Atlantis." I explain.  
"Sir, look at this. There are ships from every era." Cashmere points out the window.

"Commander," A voice booms through the room.

I furrow my eyebrows and look at the journal. "Predeshtem logtu nug... nah geb." I read out loud and start translating. "Enter the lair of the Leviathan."

"Commander?"

I continue translating."There you will find the gateway."

"Commander?"

"Yes, Coin?" Brutus says as he looks up from his fingers.

"I'm picking up something on the hydrophone." The female voice says. "I think you should hear it."

"Put it on speakers," says Brutus. Then a screeching noise fills the room.

"What is that?" Gale questions. "A pod of whales?

"Bigger," Coin says.

After a moment the shrieking stops, Cashmere shrugs. "Well, whatever that thing was, it's gone now." Then the room jerks violently to the side. I look back at the poster. Could the Leviathan really be attacking us?

"We're under attack," says Brutus, and the submarine is knocked into again. Water starts spraying out from the ceiling. "Johanna, can you fix this?"

"On it!" And she runs out of the room.

I walk to the window, maybe I can get a good look at the creature attacking us. I stand for a moment, then I see it, a creature resembling the illustration of the Leviathan. As it swims by it's eyes dilate in a way that looks... almost mechanical. "It's a machine," I say in awe.

How could the Leviathan be a machine? If the people of Atlantis built it, that would mean they had an even greater understanding of machinery than I'd originally thought. They would have to know more about machinery than we do in today's society.

"All hands abandon ship," Brutus shouts, and there's a wave of panic. "Move it people! Sometime today would be nice!" I get into an emergency sub with Johanna, Gale, and Beetee and we separate from the main submarine. We're all going to die, I think as Gale steers the sub. How am I ever going to find Atlantis if I'm dead? Gale dodges the Leviathan and we go through a tunnel. We might be okay after all. We finally arrive in a cave and step out of the sub. Brutus arrives with a grim look on his face. I look around and find only twenty members of the crew.

"Where are all the others?" I ask as I sit down.

"Seven hours ago, we started this mission with 200 of the greatest men and women I've ever known." Brutus says then motions to everyone standing around him. "We're all that's left... I won't sugar-coat it gentlemen, we have a crisis on our hands. We've been up this particular creek before, and we've always come through, paddle or no paddle. I see no need to change that policy now. From here on in, everybody pulls double duty... Everyone drives, everyone works. Looks like our chances of survival rest with you and that book, Mr. Mellark." I look at the Shepherd's Journal, then back at the crew.

An older woman who must be Coin shakes her head in defeat. "We're all going to die," She grumbles.

 **Thank you guys for reading this story! That's the crew! Have a good day, and tell me what you thought in the reviews.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Throughout the cave are ruins- columns, bridges, and statues. As I observe the ruins, I wonder what the people of Atlantis were like. I'm hoping to find out more about their culture when we reach the city. Beetee uses his machinery to dig holes to dig holes in the ground. One day, as we were walking, I was so focused on my reading, that I fell into one. That same day, after I stopped to to a drink, Gale pulled me aside. "You didn't just drink that did you?" He asks motioning to the bottle.

"Mm-hmm." I nod.

"That's not good. That's nitroglycerin." He tells me and I gag. "Don't move. Don't breath... Don't do anything except... pray." Then he bursts out into laughter. "Just kidding," He slaps my back.

Another time, I had been admiring on old column. "It's gotta be half a mile high at least. It must have taken hundreds- no thousands of years."

Then Gale pulled a lever and blew the column out of ground, it lands across a gorge, and makes bridge. "Hey look, I made a bridge." He tells me. "And it only took me what?... A minute?" I laugh and look back at where the column used to stand. He just ruined a piece of architecture that's stood there for thousands of years. Later that day, I felt like I was being watched.

Today, our hike has been uphill for the most part, and everybody is exhausted. "Okay," Brutus calls as he sits down. "Let's call it a night."

The cook, a grumpy old man name Chaff, makes dinner, but I've learned that he is not very good at cooking. We sit around a fire and push the 'food' around our plate. I read the Shepherd's Journal, stuck on a tricky page. "Peeta, do you ever put that book down?" Doctor Aurelius asks me.

"Yeah, you must have read it at least half a dozen times now," Johanna chuckles.

"I know." I sigh. "But in this passage here, the Shepherd's Journal seems to be leading up to something. He calls it the heart of Atlantis. It could be leading to the power source the legends refer to... But then it just cuts off... Almost like there's a missing page."

"Kid relax." Johanna says.

"I know, I know, sometimes I get carried away. So..." I say. "Can you believe it? A whole culture, just waiting to be found. I've dreamed about finding Atlantis my whole life." I look around at the crews unimpressed faces. "Unless... you're just in it for the money..."

"Money," They all agree.

"Oh well," I chuckle. "I set myself up for that one. At least my grandfather's dreams can be made real."

"You know Peeta," says Johanna. "I never got the chance to meet your grandfather, what was he like?"

"He was... the smartest person I've ever met," I smile. "I knew from a young age that I wanted to be like him... I just hope I'm making him proud."

"You seem like you were very close." She observes.

"We were," I agree. "My parents... They died when I was little, so he raised me."

"That is so cute," Beetee says.

We finish eating then get our tents set up. Johanna, Gale, and I talk. "So what do you need the money for?" I ask Johanna.

"Well, you see my father wanted two sons, one to run his machine shop, and one to be a middleweight boxing champion. Instead he got me and my sister." She laughs.

"And where did your sister end up?" I ask.

"She's 24 and 0 with a shot at the title next month." She says proudly. "Anyway I'm saving up so my Papi and I can open another shop.

"Wow," I run my fingers through my blond curls. "What about you Gale? Why are you here?"

"Well, as far as I go... I just like to blow things up..." Gale shrugs.

"Come on, Gale," Doctor Aurelius says. "Tell him the truth."

Gale sighs, pulling at his hair. "My family owns a flower shop. We would sell carnations, baby's breath- you name it. One day I'm making a dozen corsages, for prom. But I guess there was a leak next door, of gas, or something. Then boom! No more Chinese laundry. Blew me right through the front window. It was like a sign from God... I found myself that day."

I nod. "And what about you Beetee?"

Beetee opens his mouth to speak when Doctor Aurelius cuts him off. "You don't want to know."

"Okay?..." I lay down. "Well good night," We all go to bed but I end up waking up in the middle of the night needing to go to the bathroom. I bring a lantern, and some toilet paper, and walk away from camp. I go into a cave, and a swarm of insects come out. As the swarm moves, they set things on fire. So much for going to bathroom. I think. "Fire!" I shout and run back to the others. People are waking up, and we run to the trucks we brought with us and speed off. I'm in the back of the truck trying to hold on. But when we go over a large rock, I'm thrown out of the truck. Is this the end? I think as I fly through the air. Then everything goes dark.

 **Thank you guys for reading this story! I believe Peeta meets Katniss in the next chapter. Tell me what you guys think so far in the reviews.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

When I awaken, I hear whispers. Slowly, I open my eyes and find a group of unfamiliar people wearing masks. I scoot back, trying to get away from them. These people aren't part of the crew, and no one else should be down here, Atlantis sunk into the ocean thousands of years ago. The person in the center of the group takes off their mask.

It's a girl... A beautiful girl with black hair, silver eyes, and olive skin. I'm immediately drawn to her even though she'll most likely kill me. Her eyes sink down to my chest and my eyes follow, I apparently have a bleeding wound there, I must have got it when I fell out of the back of the truck.

I watch as she grabs the small crystal hanging from her neck, it starts to glow as soon as it comes in contact with her skin. I scoot farther away- she scowls at me and moves closer. She's wearing a skirt and a top that reveals her stomach. She puts the crystal against my wound, then covers it with her hand. What's going on? I wonder. When she pulls away, there's a glowing imprint of her hand, and when it fades away my wound is gone. Is she an angle? Am I dead?

I have no time to ask because as soon as I open my mouth to speak, the sound of an engine scares them away. "Wait!" I follow them all the way to the opening in the cave, but when I get through the hole they're gone. I look around and see the outline of a city in the distance. This is Atlantis! I realize that place is illuminated with light, even without a visible light source. I wonder where it is coming from.

Two of our trucks filled with the rest of the crew come out of the cave. Johanna jumps out of the first one. "This Atlantis?" She asks.

"I believe so," I say quietly.

"Great job," She punches my shoulder and I flinch away. "Hey, two for flinching." And she punches me again.

Everybody gets out of the trucks. "You did good, Peeta," says Doctor Aurelius. Then the group of the same people who circled me earlier jump out from the edge of the cliff holding weapons. "I take that back."

"Who are these guys?" Brutus demands.

The girl who healed my wound starts shouting at us in a different language and I try to piece together what she's saying. Maybe she knows other languages. Perhaps she knows one I know. I try to communicate with her in several different languages, and am finally able to understand her in French. "Parlez-vous francais?"

"Oui, monsieur"

I tell her who we are, where we come from, and why we are here. She seems to relax a little at this. The Atlanteans, behind her relax as well, and begin to greet us in several different languages.

"Buenos dias."

"Guten tag!"

I turn to the crew. "This is incredible."

"That they know all those languages?" Gale asks.

"Yes. Their language must be based on a root dialect. It's just like the Tower of Babel.

"Well, maybe they know English," says Brutus as he moves toward the Atlantean girl. "Hello, we come peacefully to explore this lost city."

She furrows her eyebrows at this then gestures behind her. "Welcome to the city of Atlantis." She leads us across a bridge and through the city, then into a palace where we find an old man sitting on a throne. This must be their King. "Father." She says, and I raise my eyebrow, this girl is a princess? "These people have come to explore the city," I look closer at him. He looks at us then back at her then they start speaking in a language I don't quite understand but I try to piece it together. The only thing I get from the conversation is that he doesn't want us here.

"What are they talking about?" Brutus asks me.

"I... I don't know." I shrug.

"Well whatever they're talking about, it doesn't sound any good." He moves toward the King. "Sir, we are peaceful explores here to observe this land."

The King laughs. "You say you are peaceful, yet you bring weapons."

"Sir," Brutus presses harder. "Our weapons, allow us to remove obstacles we might encounter on the way."

"There are some obstacles that cannot be removed with a mere show of force." The King looks at him. "I'm sorry, but we need to preserve our way of life-"

"Our way of life is dying!" His daughter exclaims.

"Silence Katniss!" The King says then looks back at us. "You need to leave."

"Sir, may I suggest that we stay here- just for the night. That would give us the time to rest and be ready to leave in the morning." says Brutus.

The King contemplates for a moment. "Very well," He finally agrees. "But only for today." Then the guards escort us out of the palace.

It's silent for a few minutes as we stand by some rock formations. I sigh and pull out the Shepherd's Journal and pretend to read it.

"Somebody need to talk to that Princess," says Cashmere. "Get her to show us around."

"But who should do it?" Johanna asks. "They'd need to have good people skills... someone who wouldn't scare her away, you know? And they would have to be able to speak the language."

"I volunteer Peeta," says Gale, and I look up from the journal. "Go on lover boy,"

So I close the book and walk back toward the palace. My palms start sweating for some reason, and I begin to dread having to talk to her. I try to sort out why I'm nervous to see her, but the only explanation I can come up with is because she's pretty. So I watch the palace doors from behind a rock, and wait for her to come outside.

 **Thank you guys for reading this chapter! Peeta is going to confront Katniss next chapter! Also, next week is my Spring Break and I'll be out of town with no internet, so I will not be updating Monday March 14th. Updates should be every Monday after that unless something comes up. Have a good day, and tell me what you think of this chapter in the reviews.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

When the doors open again and the princess walks out I prepare to corner her. I'll say 'I have some questions to ask you, and I am not leaving until you answer them.' I move away from my hiding spot but she's gone. Where did she go? I turn back around and come face to face with her.

She covers my mouth with her hand. "There are some questions I need to ask you, and you are not leaving this city until they're answered." She says then looks behind her back at the palace doors, then leads me away from the city. "You're a scholar, aren't you?"

"What do you-"

"Well," She says. "Judging by your diminished physic and large forehead, you're clearly not suited for anything else." I laugh. "What is your country of origin? When did the flood waters recede? How did you-"

"Wait," I interrupt her. "I have some questions for you as well. So how about I ask you a question, and you ask me one, and so on."

"Very well," She laughs. "What is your first question?"

"Okay, how did you get here? I mean, not you specifically, but your people, how did Atlantis get here?"

"They say the gods got jealous of us," She explains. They sent a great cataclysm and banished us here. All I can remember is the sky going dark... and people shouting and running. I remember a bright light, like a star... floating over the city. My father said it called my mother to it, I never saw her again..."

"I'm so sorry," I automatically say, but then think about what she said. "Wait a minute, back up, you remember when this happened? You were there?"

"Yes..." She laughs awkwardly.

"But... that's impossible, because that would make you eighty five... eighty eight," I try to do the math in my head. "Hundred years old."

"Yes." She says in a tone that makes it sound like reaching such an age isn't impossible.

"Well," I look at her. "You look amazing," She looks away right as I notice her blush, but what really doing is considering how these people can still be alive.

She finally looks back at me. "What about you? How did you get here?"

"The location of the city is in this book," I pull out the journal, her eyes widen and she rips it out of my hands.

"You can read this?"

"Yes, I-"

"This here," She shoves the pages in my face. "You can read that?"

"Yes, I can read Atlantean just like you," She frowns and looks down at the pages, traces the markings with her finger. "You... You can't read Atlantean, can you?"

"Nobody can." She says sadly. "Such knowledge has been lost to us since the time of the Mehbelmok,"

"Oh, the Great Flood."

She smiles. "I want to show you something," She runs into the trees and I follow her, she stops in front of a machine that looks like a cross between a car and a fish. "I found it, my people used to ride them to get around faster, but we no longer know how to work them."

"Let me see," I move toward the vehicle and find instructions written on them. You put the crystal necklace that everybody living here seems to have, in the slot, turn it counter clockwise, and put your hand on the ignition pad. I follow the instructions and it starts up, but no one is controlling it, so it speeds forward, and crashes into a rock wall. Later, we decide to climb a statue together, looking out at the city, we sit, and as I think about how my grandfather dreamed of coming here, my eyes start to water.

"What's wrong?"

"Ugh... Nothing, just something in my eye." I say, but decide to tell her the truth. "It's just my grandpa used to tell me stories about this place, for as long as I can remember. I wish he could be here with me today." I look back at her. "Hey, I don't think we've even be properly introduced, I'm Peeta,"

"I'm Katniss,"

"Katniss." I try the name out. It suits her. When we get to the top, we sit down and admire the city. The sun begins to set so Katniss takes me back to the city to eat. She asks me questions about the crew and where I came from, then we go away from the city once more. We catch fireflies.

"You know the most we could hope to find here were ruins, we never expected to find a living, thriving society."

Katniss sighs. "We are not thriving." She says. "True our people live, but our culture is dying. We are like a stone the ocean beats against, with each passing year, a little more of us is worn away."

"I wish there was something I could do,"

"That is why I brought you here. There is a mural with writing around the pictures."

"Alright," I whip around and find a wall with writing on it. "Okay so this says-" I turn around and find Katniss treading into the water, she looks at me.

"Are you coming?" She asks, and I run to catch up with her. "I hope you can swim." We go underwater and she leads me to a pocket of air so we can breath. "Are you okay?"

"Yes,"

"Good," And she sinks back into the water. I follow and find the mural she talked about. Her crystal necklace illuminates the space as I scan through the writing. When we come up for air, Katniss looks at me expectantly.

"It's a complete history of Atlantis," I tell her. "It's just like Plato described it, although he was off on a few details."

"The star, Peeta." Katniss reminds me. "What does it say about that?"

"I don't know, but let's go find out." We go back underwater and I search for information about the star. I find it and read carefully. "It's the heart of Atlantis," I say when we come up for again. "It wasn't a star, it was some kind of crystal... like your necklace. The power source and the bright light are the same thing,"

"What does that mean?"

"That crystal is what's keeping everything alive!"

Katniss looks at me. "Well, where is it now?"

"I don't know, you'd think something that important would be in the journal." I say. "Unless... The missing page," We swim back to the surface and find the crew standing around us pointing their guns at us.

"Have a nice swim?" Brutus asks as someone pulls Katniss out of the water by her hair. She kicks them and moves to run away but two others catch her by her arms and hold her in place.

"I'm such an idiot," I say. "This is just another treasure hunt to you." I realize now what they are after. "Your after the crystal?"

"You mean this?" Brutus pulls out the missing page from the Shepherd's Journal. "Sorry you had to find out like this, but we like to keep things on a need to know basis.

"Brutus," I plead. "You think it's some kind of a diamond, I thought it was some kind of a battery, but we were both wrong. It's their life force, it's the only thing keeping them alive.

"Well that changes everything," Says Cashmere. "Knowing that I say we double the price."

"I'd triple it," Brutus watches me as I get out of the water. "Peeta, you're an idealist like your grandfather, don't be like your grandfather. For once in your life, do the smart thing. Where does the journal say the crystal is?" He hands me the missing page.

I frown and skim through the page. "It... it just says that the heart of Atlantis lies in the eyes of her King, but I'm not sure what that means."

"I know what that means," Brutus smirks.

"You do?"

"It means we pay the King a little visit."

 **Thank you guys for reading this chapter! I hope you guys are liking this story so far! It's almost over! I think there is only one more chapter and then the Epilogue, anyway tell me your thoughts the reviews.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

I watch as Brutus' crew knocks the doors to the palace down. He puts his gun against Katniss' forehead, and I wince, looking away, expecting a gun shot that never comes. "Tell your guards to drop their weapons," Once the King does as he's asked, Brutus pushes Katniss to the ground and stomps toward the old King. Katniss moves to attack him but Gale grabs her wrists. I look back as Brutus makes his demands. "Now tell me where the crystal is."

"I don't know what your talking about," says the King.

Brutus pulls the King to his feet and then pushes him down the steps. I move to help, but Johanna grabs my arm to stop me. "You'll only get yourself killed," She tells me quietly.

"I'm going to try this again." Brutus says. "Where are you hiding that crystal?"

"I don't know of this crystal you speak of,"

Brutus sits down in the King's chair, when he looks up his eyes widen and he smirks. "The heart of Atlantis lies in the eyes of her king." He moves toward a small pond with rocks in the center that are put together to look like an eye. "Cashmere, I want you, Peeta, and the princess to follow me."

Cashmere grabs Katniss and motions for me to follow her. We walk through the pond and step onto the rock. As soon as Katniss steps on it begins to descend into the ground, almost like Katniss activated it. It takes us down into the cave and we step off.

I look up and find a levitating blue crystal that glows like a star. Several pieces of wood with faces carved into them orbit around the crystal like planets. "The Kings of our past." Katniss says, then she drops to her knees and starts praying in a whisper.

"Would you tell her to hurry that up?" Brutus asks me.

I reluctantly tap Katniss' shoulder and she looks up, a little surprised, then stands. "I'm so sorry," I say quietly.

"How do we get it down?" Cashmere asks.

I look up. If they succeed at doing this all of Atlantis will die. How do I stop them? I'm just one person, I'm not even strong. I- "Do not be afraid, Peeta," Katniss whispers to me in Atlantian.

"What?" I ask.

She starts walking toward the crystal, Cashmere moves to stop her. "Let her go," Brutus says. I watch her walk farther and farther away. When she stands right below the crystal, a beam of light flashes down onto her and she begins to levitate off of the ground. She gets absorbed into the crystal and the floating heads begin to orbit faster around the crystal, when they stop Katniss floats in place of the crystal.

But Katniss is different now. She is now a translucent blue figure, and she glows just like the crystal did. The wooden heads fall to the ground one by one, and the floor beneath me shakes. Then Katniss begins to descend back to the ground. When she reaches the ground and begins her walk back to us I realize that Brutus and Cashmere will take Katniss with them, away from Atlantis, and then the city will die. "Katniss," I say as she walks past me, but she doesn't acknowledge me at all.

Brutus leads her out of the cave and into a metal box, closing it behind her. I can't let them take her away... "You can't do this, without the crystal, the city will die! Everyone here will die!"

"Oh come on," I says. "You've read Darwin, it's called natural selection, we're just helping it along."

"Commander we're ready to go," Cashmere says.

"Give me a minute, I'm forgetting something," He says. "Let's see, I've got the cargo, they crystal, the crew... Oh yeah." Brutus smirks at me. "I forgot to tell you Peeta, as it turns out, you're just like your grandfather." My eyebrows furrow right before Brutus punches my jaw. The action takes me by surprise, and the impact makes me fall backwards onto the ground. "The problem is, I never liked your grandfather." The crew start to pile up into the trucks. "It's kind of ironic, isn't it? You've spent your whole life obsessing over Atlantis, and now you're part of the exhibit."

Hearing this Johanna jumps out of the truck and helps me up."You're leaving him?"

"Yes, Johanna... I am."

"You are a terrible human being... If your leaving him behind, you'll have to leave me behind too."

"Fine," Brutus snickers crossing his arms. "That's just more riches for me." Gale sighs and steps out of the truck to join us, soon Beetee, and Chaff stand by my side as well.

Coin frowns and slumps toward us. "We're all gonna die," She grumbles.

"You guys have to to be kidding me," Brutus laughs. "But I guess it's your choice." He shrugs and hops into the truck and it backs up, taking Katniss away.

"We can't let him leave Atlantis with Katniss, if he does, we all die." I tell them.

Doctor Aurelies walks out of the palace. "The King," He says in a breathless voice. "He has internal bleeding... He's dying."

I follow him and see the old King sitting back in his chair. I move to his side and take his hand. "Is this okay?"

He nods his head slowly in response. "Where is my daughter." He looks around wildly and I explain what happened to Katniss. "Then you must help her," He says.

"What... What did the crystal do to her?"

He frowns. "She has been chosen like her mother before her."

"What?"

"In times of danger, the crystal will choose a host... One of royal blood, to protect itself, and it's people... It... It will accept no other."

"Choose?" I ask. "Do you mean that the crystal is alive?"

"In a way." He tells me. "The crystal thrives on the collective emotions of all who came before us. In return it provides power, longevity, protection... And as it grew, it developed a consciousness of its own. In my arrogance I sought to use it as a weapon of war. But it's power proved too great to control. It overwhelmed us and led to our destruction."

"That's why you hid it beneath the city." I say. "To keep history from repeating itself."

"And to protect Katniss from suffering the same fate as my beloved wife.

"What do you mean? What's going to happen to Katniss?"

"If she remains bonded to the crystal, she could be lost to it forever... The love of my daughter is all I have left." He takes his crystal necklace off. "My burden would have become hers when the time was right... but now it falls to you." He puts the necklace around my neck.

"Me?"

He coughs. "Save Atlantis. Save me daughter." Then he closes his eyes and his heart stops. I wipe at the tears threatening to spill down my face, and gather my thoughts. I don't know how, but I'm going to rescue Katniss. There is no way I'm going to let this amazing culture- the very one I've obsessed about all my life- die out. There's no way I'm going to let the King down.

I walk out of the palace. Atlanteans look at me expectantly. "He's gone," I say, and the crowd gasps. "But we need to save Katniss, if they take her away from the city, we will all die."

"What are we going to do?" One person cries.

"I have an idea," I say and begin to go over the plan. I show them how to work the vehicles Katniss showed me. I ask Johanna and Gale about Brutus' weakness. We plan quickly, and within then minutes, we are on our way to attack the rest of the crew.

When we get there, Brutus and Cashmere are in a hot air balloon headed toward the opening at the top of the cave. The crate holding Katniss is tied to the balloon. When they notice us, they start shooting at us. "Stop!" Beetee shouts. "This is a volcano! An explosion could set it off!" We proceed carefully. Brutus and Cashmere begin throwing things off the balloon, making it lighter and faster. Then Brutus picks Cashmere up and throws her out of the balloon.

"We had a deal!" I hear her shout as she falls to the ground. The drop is so large that she must have broken something vital. I frown and jump off the flying vehicle and onto the crate. I take a knife out and start cutting at the chain securing the crate to the balloon. Brutus notices me and throws his own knife at me, I quickly duck, barely avoiding the weapon. Doctor Aurelies starts cutting at the chain with a saw.

"It can cut through a femur in twenty eight seconds." He shrugs.

I jump into the balloon with Brutus and he starts throwing punches at me. I grab the crystal hanging around my neck and use it to slit his wrist. He begins to crystallize in front of me. I look at him in shock and then push his body out of the balloon. Doctor frees the crate, but since it was dangling twenty feet in the air, it starts to crash to the ground. "No!" I jump out of the balloon before I have the chance to think about it, which I realize now was a stupid idea. I'm going to die now. I think as I close my eyes and wait for the blow. I land on my stomach, the breath is pushed out of me and I open my eyes and see that I'm still several feet up in the air. Johanna caught me. "Thanks," I say when I get my breath back.

She lands the machine, and I run to the crate which doesn't seem to be damaged. Maybe the crystal protected it when it hit the ground. I see Cashmere laying on the ground, covered in blood. She brings her gun up and aims it at the balloon, she must think Brutus is still in there. "Nothing personal," I hear her say, and then she fires the gun, which turns out to be an explosive gun. The ground starts shaking.

"The volcano is erupting!" Beetee shrieks. People get back on their vehicles. I run to the crate and tie the metal chain the a vehicle and we ride back to Atlantis. I let Katniss out of the crate. The volcano erupts, and lava begins to flow toward the city. We're all going to die! Katniss looks at the lava calmly. Then she levitates up into the sky. The wooden sculptures of Atlantis' past Kings emerge up from the ground. And circle around Katniss, like they did when the crystal choose her. As the lava comes closer and closer to the city, a shield of energy bounces off of Katniss and covers the city just as the lava gets here but it doesn't touch the city, instead it covers the shield of energy. We are safe.

When the lava hardens it breaks off and falls to the ground. I look up and see Katniss, looking herself again, standing on the ground. I move toward her. She smiles and opens her hand, revealing a small bracelet that must belong to little girl. "Who's is that?" I ask her.

"It was mine, a long time ago," She says then pulls me into a tight hug. "I can't wait to show father,"

She doesn't know! I think as I pull away from her. "Uh... Katniss," She looks at me curiously. "Remember when Brutus was trying to get your father to tell him where the crystal was?"

"Yes, he..." Katniss trails off and frowns. "He pushed my father down those stairs," She looks at me again and grabs the crystal that hangs around my neck. "Where did you get this?"

"Your father wanted me to have it... To help you."

She looks at her feet. "He's dead. Isn't he?"

"Yes," I whisper. She looks up at me again, and I notice the tears streaming down her face. I pull her back into my arms. "I'm so sorry," I barry my face in her hair, and let myself cry too.

The remaining members of the crew get ready to leave. But I feel like my heart belongs here. I have nothing at home. Katniss gives the crew gold and presents each of them with a crystal necklace of their own. "I only wish I could give you more," She tells them.

"I think we'll be okay with what you gave us," Gale says and motions for pile of gold Johanna shovels into the truck. "But thanks.

At the last minute I decide to stay in Atlantis. I can help them rebuild, and teach them to read Atlatian. Katniss seems extremely excited about this. I say goodbye to the crew. Johanna flinches when I pull her into a hug. "Two for flinching," I tell her when she pulls away and I pull her into another hug. And the crew leaves.

Katniss is crowned Queen. She'll make an excellent leader. Her father choose to hide the crystal, but Katniss had decided to embrace it. We carve his face into a piece of wood, and send it to orbit around the crystal. We start to rebuild the city,, turn the ruins into what they once were. We restore Atlantis. Katniss and I grow together slowly. One day, I wake up and realize she's the reason I stayed, that I love her.

I can't imagine what my life would be like if Mister Abernathy hadn't helped me get here. I don't know what I thought I would find when I got here, but I didn't think I'd find love, or that I'd find my home. I just wish I could thank Mister Abernathy somehow.

 **So this is pretty much the end. I have an Epilogue that I will post next week, but it's about three paragraphs long so it's not much. Until then, have a great week!**


	9. Chapter 9

Epilogue

I open my eyes and find an empty bed. Getting up, I change my clothes, and move to the room next door. Empty. Sighing, I go into the palace gardens and find what I was looking for. Katniss sits in the grass and rocks our daughter, quietly, she sings a lullaby in Atlantean about a meadow. A safe place where daisies guard you from every harm. A place we made real here in Atlantis.

We finished rebuilding the city years ago, and I've taught most of our people to read Atlantean. The people of Atlantis are thriving once again. Who knew all they needed to do so was an expert in gibberish? Katniss has been an amazing Queen. She always thinks for the good of her people, and has transformed Atlantis into the empire it once was.

Our daughter will rule over Atlantis someday. We are doing our best to raise her to be a kind ruler who thinks of her people first. Like Katniss' father raised her. Someday she will have to make her own decisions about the future of this empire, but that's a long time away. I don't know what the future will hold, perhaps someday we will use the power of the crystal to rejoin the rest of the world, but for now, we are content being Atlantis; the lost empire.

 **So this is the end! I hope you guys have enjoyed this story! Thank you guys so much for reading this story, especially those of you who reviewed. Reviews make my day. Also, this summer I will be posting another Hunger Games fanfiction based off of a Disney series. So if you're at all interested in that, look out for it, it will be posted here toward the end of May.**


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